Please, Keep Smiling
by mikeysmess
Summary: "Your smile means the world to me, Levi. And I love you so, so very much. So please..." Eren moved his hands so they cupped either side of Levi's face. "Keep smiling."


It was spring.

And with spring came Valentine's day.

Valentine's day was one of Levi's boyfriends favourite days of the year, a day for happiness and celebration. It was the day for confessing your undying love to your high school crush. The day to cuddle up on the couch watching cheesy romance movies, or to walk through the streets, hand in hand, under the huge expanse of cherry blossom trees that bloomed during this beautiful, joy filled season.

Cherry blossoms, those words stirred up a memory within Levi.

It had been a few years ago, near the time when Levi first started dating Eren Jaeger. Near the time when Eren would still flush scarlet whenever Levi would link their hands together. It was only two weeks before Valentine's day, which meant that the cherry blossoms were all in full bloom. The two had been strolling down the footpath, a couple blocks from their shared apartment complex, when Eren had broken the comfortable silence that had formed between them.

" _I can't wait until it's finally Valentine's day!" Eren said to him, that huge shit-eating grin plastered to his face._

" _Tch, speak for yourself, brat" Levi had replied, his usual mask of apathy in place._

 _Eren turned to him, horrified, "Are you saying you don't like valentine's day?"_

" _Fucking course not." Deadpan, "Everyone acts so sappy and lovey-dovey, its disgus- Blah!"_

 _That's when a single, pink cherry blossom petal had made the wise choice of landing directly inside his mouth, cutting off the rest of his sentence._

 _Eren seemed to find it utterly hilarious, doubling over and holding his side while he laughed. After he finally managed to stifle his giggles, he skipped over in front of Levi, tapped him on the nose with his index finger, and said; "Aphrodite has silenced you." Prancing off, leaving Levi to fume where he stood, but then he thought back to how happy Eren had looked in the few seconds he was standing in front of him, and he found himself smiling, just a little._

 _Levi's smiles meant the world to Eren._

Levi knew how much Eren loved this time of year, so, snapping out of his little reverie, he gathered his thoughts and continued walking through the town. Everything was busy, in fact, you practically had to push past people to get through the wide-spread crowd that lingered on the streets. Of course it would be busy, what with everyone out to buy something for their special someone.

That's exactly what Levi was doing.

He recalled once how Eren had mentioned his favourite type of flowers were daffodils, because they reminded him of the sun, and that whenever Levi smiled, he could out shine the sun any day. Of course Levi had quickly dismissed this fact, however, he would be lying if he didn't say that it made him at least a little bit happy to hear those words.

Levi believed that Eren's smile was far more spectacular.

Eren's smiles were beautiful.

Levi had never once voiced this thought, so he made the choice, he would do so today. He would tell Eren that his smiles were beautiful, that they could light up a room the second he stepped inside it.

Levi stopped walking as he arrived at his destination. He glanced up and looked at the very bright, eye catching sign that hung above the little store he was about to enter. In big, swirly letters, the sign read the words _Sina Floral,_ multiple simply painted flowers acted as a border, giving the sign a simple, yet intricate design.

As he walked through the front doors, a little bell chimed overhead, singling the arrival of a new customer.

He heard rustling coming from somewhere out back, and a -sadly taller than him- girl came bouncing through the curtains. She was carrying a plant pot of some sort in her arms, which she quickly dismissed among a large pile of boxes on the left side of the store. Her hands went to tighten her ponytail, and as she pushed back some of the loose strands that had escaped, she sent Levi a bright smile.

"Hello! And welcome to Sina Floral! What can I do for you today s- "

Her hands dropped to her sides, and her smile disappeared. Her mocha brown eyes narrowed, and then widened considerably.

"Ackerman? Levi Ackerman?" she asked.

Levi caught her gaze, surprised, although he didn't show it.

"How did you know my name?" he asked, genuinely curious, if a bit sceptical.

The murderous look on his face did not deter the brunette, and she hurried along with her explanation.

"Mistake me if I'm wrong, but; you're Eren's boyfriend, aren't you?"

Grey eyes widened a little, "You knew Eren?"

"Of course! We were classmates back in high school! Oh it's so great to finally meet you Mr Levi!" She removed one of her gloves, which was covered in potting soil, and held her hand out for him to shake, he took it, and they shook hands. "My name is Sasha. Sasha Braus. If you're wondering how I recognized you, it's just that whenever Eren stopped by here, he would talk nonstop about you! Levi this, Levi that, it was pretty obvious when I saw you."

Levi had, actually, been wondering that, but he chose not to say anything.

"Sorry about that, so anyway, Mr Levi, what can I do for you today?" the girl- Sasha asked.

"I'm looking for some flowers, daffodils preferably." He stated, nonchalantly.

Without another word, Sasha scrambled out back, passing the sign reading _Staff Only,_ and came back moments later holding a large bouquet of daffodils.

"This what you're after?" she questioned, smiling when Levi gave a curt nod.

She brought them over to the counter, punching some numbers into the register.

"That'll be $22.60", while Levi was busy swiping his card to pay, Sasha asked him, "For Eren? For valentine's day?"

Levi nodded once more, gave a brief thank you to the bubbly shopkeeper, and exited without so much as a goodbye.

Levi's car was parked a few blocks down from the store, so he didn't have far to walk. But as he made his way through the bustling crowd, another memory resurfaced.

It had been around one year ago, and Levi had just returned from a business trip. He had been gone a month, so when he opened the front door to his and Eren's apartment, he wasn't sure what he thought would happen, but he was totally caught off guard, to say the least.

" _Levi~!" Eren squealed as he tackled Levi down from where he stood in the doorway._

 _It was raining, had been for days now, but it was ok, because the weather had perfectly matched Eren's previous mood. Sadness, pretty much. His boyfriend had been gone a whole month, he could no longer wait for him to return in the evenings after work, in fact, for at least a week after Levi's flight had left, Eren still unconsciously made dinner for them both, only to realise he was the only one there in the now, empty feeling apartment._

 _But he was back._

 _Levi was home._

 _The love of his life was home, I mean, it wasn't like he was never going to come back, Eren had been informed the exact time Levi would be returning, but it still didn't change the fact that he had missed him._

" _I missed you so fucking much!" Eren yelled, still sprawled out on top of Levi, ultimately squashing him._

" _Argh! Get off shitty brat!" Levi grumbled, trying to shove Eren off, but it only made him grip tighter, so eventually he just gave up, letting Eren rant on about how lonely he had been while he was away. When Eren had calmed down, and removed his face from where it had just been buried in Levi's chest, Levi reached up and pulled Eren in for a chaste kiss. They both wished it could last longer, but Eren was the first to pull away, only so he could smile down at his boyfriend, tears sparkling in the corners of his eyes as he whispered,_

" _Welcome home."_

Levi made it back to his car, it was a black 1967 Chevrolet Impala, his very first car, and he was damned proud of it. It was always in perfect shape, not a speck of dust adorned the beige, leather seats. He placed his recently purchased bouquet in the passenger seat, and climbed in himself. He started up the car, and strapped his seatbelt across his chest.

He pulled out of the parking space he had taken on the side of the road, and set off. He estimated a travel time of around twenty-five minutes to get to Eren, anyone who knew him would know that he was not a valentine's day person, but if Eren liked it, then he would put up with it.

For Eren.

Levi turned the steering wheel to the left, pulling in to his destination, he could hear the gravel crunching underneath the tyres, but ignored it.

He was here.

He opened the driver's door, not before grabbing the bunch of daffodils sitting neatly on the seat beside him, and climbed out, clicking the lock shut behind him.

He made his way down a well shaded, cobbled footpath. The stones were all aligned perfectly, placed in front of one another like fitting puzzle pieces. He only now realised what a nice day it happened to be, the sun was beaming down through the open gaps the leaves couldn't cover. The grass around the path was well trimmed, like always.

When Levi came into view, from where he stood, Eren called out, _"Levi, you're here! You have no idea how much I've been looking forward to seeing you again!"_

Levi smiled slightly, just a small quirk of his lips, as he stepped out of the shade and into the blissful heat.

"Hello again, Eren."

Levi walked forwards, Eren sprinting until they met in the middle. They both stopped, and stared for a minute, until Levi stepped forward again.

Right through Eren.

Eren's brows furrowed, his eyes narrowed, and he stiffened, but he was still smiling. He turned around to where his boyfriend was just sitting down in the usual spot he sat in whenever he came to visit.

" _Haha, Oh that's right, you can't see me anymore… I should remember, I mean, it's this way every single time, you would've thought I would get used to it by now."_ Eren laughed sheepishly, bringing up a hand to rub at the nape of his neck. He followed Levi over to where he was sitting, and crouched upon the large, marble stone he was seated in front of. Eren peered down, reading the familiar verse that he had been forced to read many times over.

 _Eren Jaeger_

 _A loving son, brother, and boyfriend_

 _March 30_ _th_ _1998 – August 13_ _th_ _2016_

 _You will be missed._

"Hey brat, happy valentine's day, I got you daffodils, your favourite, right? Even if they're not these were damn expensive so this is what you get." Levi said, gently placing the golden flowers in front of Eren's gravestone.

Eren laughed, still the same old Levi. _"Thank you, Levi."_

"So… brat, I've been meaning to tell you something…" Levi started.

Eren quirked his head to the side, curious, and listening intently. _"What is it? You can tell me, I'm listening… in fact, I'm always listening."_ Eren said softly.

"I just wanted to say, well, ugh fuck you know I'm not good at this sort of stuff but… I just wanted to tell you that, well, you have a beautiful smile."

Eren's eyes widened, and he nearly lost his balance, this made him very happy. In fact, this made him want to hug Levi and kiss him and never let go.

But he knew that was impossible now.

" _Thank you so much! Levi!"_

"I haven't got much time on my hands, I have another business trip coming up, my flight leaves in about six hours and I haven't even begun packing. Honestly, it's kind of sad how you won't be there to tackle me to the floor when I arrive back again…" Levi's voice cracked slightly, and a single tear ran down his cheek. "I-I miss you, brat… I wish you were s-still here with me"

Then the floodgates opened.

Levi hung his head, sobbing into his hands. Eren was taken aback, the most Levi had ever done when coming to see him was let a tear roll down his cheek, and even _that_ hardly ever happened. He was so well closed up; his mask was set so firmly in place.

Most of the time.

"I'm so sorry Eren! I'm so _fucking sorry!_ " Levi sobbed miserably. "I should've done more, I should've done m-more with you when you were alive, I should've taken you to see the ocean more often, I should've told you how much y-you meant to me and, n-now I never can!"

Eren stepped off where he was still crouched on the head of his gravestone, bending down to wrap his arms around Levi's shaking form. _"Shit! Levi please don't cry! D-don't cry… I'm right here! I-im right here! Remember what I said? Keep smiling, you promised, remember?"_

But Levi couldn't hear him.

The pair sat crying together, Levi wrapped in an unknown embrace, for God knows how long, until Levi finally regained his composure, slowly, but surely. He stood, and straightened out his clothes, lifting a sleeve to glance at a wristwatch.

"I've got to go now, brat." He said, wiping a hand over his face and up through his hair. But just before he turned to walk away, he whispered, in a solemn, but earnest voice,

"I love you, Eren."

 _Levi clutched onto Eren's hand for dear life, with both of his own. Eren's breathing was erratic and uneven, his chest rising and falling in all the wrong ways._

 _The heart monitor was beeping at an inhuman rate, too fast._

 _Way too fast._

 _And all Levi could do was watch, watch as his lover's life fades away, slowly, painfully. The doctors had already told them there was no hope, no way Eren would survive this. Levi hadn't wanted to believe it at first. But then he realised…_

 _He couldn't fucking do anything._

 _Not one goddamn thing.'_

" _Eren, Eren please you can't fucking die on me here! We- we still have a whole shitty life ahead of us, don't go Eren, please!"_

 _Eren smiled, and goddammit it was brighter than the sun and moon combined, with the bit of strength he still had, Eren freed the hand being held in both of Levi's and lifted his arms to his face, placing one hand on each side of Levi's lips, and lifting them up, into a clumsy, forced, smile._

" _Your smile means the world to me, Levi." Eren gasped out in between pained breathes. "And I love you so, so very much."_

 _The heart monitors beeping was slowly decreasing in speed, slowly fading with each passing moment._

" _I-I-"_

" _Shh," Eren hushed him. "So please," Eren moved his hands so they cupped either side of Levi's face._

" _Keep smiling."_

 _The line went flat._

" _No! No! Eren I love you too! I fucking love you too shitty brat you hear me? I love you so much it hurts, please, don't leave!"_

 _It was too late._

 _Levi was still gripping Eren's hand, long after it had gone limp. He had slid down the wall, grasping the lifeless limb as if it was the only thing keeping him sane, and in all honesty, it probably was._

 _Levi's biggest regret since that day, was knowing that Eren didn't hear him say 'I love you'._

 _And that it was so hard for him to keep smiling._

 ** _Thank you very much for reading! Also I'm so fucking sorry; I'm crying XD_**


End file.
